Starting your career in the digital stream as a web designer can be exciting as well as challenging at the same time. In fact, the millennial generation prefers a digital career over the contemporary jobs; career in web design is one such sought-after means of earning a living.
With the necessary skills at hand, you can be a freelance web designer working from the comfort of your suitable place and can earn well as you move ahead in the journey of your career. With a great web design being in demand more than ever now, business and agencies are always on a lookout for new web design talent that can build out-of-the-box product designs for them.
So, if you have the passion and flair for web designing, and are in for this journey, and are beginning to wonder how you can get started, this blog post is a must-read.
Let’s explore how you can start earning your living as a web designer.
Build a Portfolio to Showcase Your Skills
To start earning as a web design professional, you will be required to have a substantial proof of work that confirms your capability of handling client design assignments with utmost ease. If you have just started out and have no/little work experience, you can put together a portfolio using WordPress or other builders with work samples that complement the latest web design trends.
Having a portfolio can help you come across as a reliable individual to your potential clients who are probably looking to hire a professional to either build a new web project or revamp an existing one. It will also give them an idea of what to expect from your work; nothing less and nothing more.
Adapt to Using the Right Tools
Having the right tools at hand can supercharge your web design skills so that you can give the best to your clients when it comes to working performance. By talking about the right tools, we mean to mention the online resources such as a talent seeking website and web design software.
Websites such as Upwork and Freelancer help you find the right kind of clients with an assured promise of payment. On the other hand, web designing software and web design blog resources can help you create better designs and stay abreast of the latest web design development.
Start with a Basic Client
When a web design professional starts their career, the chances of landing a project with a big client are fewer. Hence, it is not a bad idea to begin small with a relatively smaller project that might not pay a lot. Although the motivation factors for internships are highly debated upon, scoring an initial web design project that might require you to work for free can be a deal-breaker as well.
Garner Good Reviews and Testimonials
Considering a scenario where you might just have kick-started your career as a web designer, good reviews and testimonials can help you land new projects. They serve as an assurance that your work is as per the expectations of the client and that you are capable of handling new work requirements as per the trend requirements. Showcasing these testimonials and reviews to prospective clients can help you get hired easily.
Look Online for More Client-leads
If you are a digital nomad, you better know the truth – the hunt for new jobs is never going to end. As you move ahead in your web design career, your skill-set will improve gradually, meaning that you will have the freedom to pursue certain kinds of clients and not everyone. Finding these clients that meet your pricing range and professional stature will often overwhelm you. It is so because good clients are hard to find and harder to retain. Hence, keep looking for better clients as you keep on completing projects.
Keep Promoting Your Work
By this time, you are in a significant phase of your web development career. This is the time to start promoting your good work and showcase it to the world. This is probably the time when your work should yield the result of clients seeking your web design services. Well, that will only happen when the people in your industry know you well or are at least aware of your services.
Setup Your Own Website
The best way to earn your living as a web designer is to make a website and earn from it. You can install the latest design changes to your own website and put it on your website for the world to see.
Running a web design blog can help you cater to a larger audience and even earn from it through revenue programs such as Google AdSense. Ensure that your web design website and blog receive ample amount of traffic and offer maximum uptime.
Keep Updating Your Skill-set
To keep earning as a web designer, you will need to update your skill-set as per the latest skill addition to the industry you relate to. This will help you tackle each kind of project with a similar success rate and consistency.
Bonus Tips
- Apart from inculcating smart work habits as a web designer, it is important to deliver time-bound results so that you are able to impress clients by timely delivering a well-executed project.
- Learn to customize standard web design elements so that you can meet all kinds of client expectations.
- Develop your skill-set to deliver projects that mirror the client’s requirement and brand identity.
- If you are having a hard time establishing yourself as a web developer, start by offering low-cost web design services and try to upsell as you move ahead.
- Networking might help you get new projects. So, be a part of web design community meetups, webinars, and other events.
Conclusion
Kickstarting your career as a web designer might seem like a cakewalk, given the fact that you have the necessary talent and skills at hand. However, sustaining this career and making the relevant growth are the factors that are more challenging.
With our above-mentioned tips on starting a web designing career and the other subtle work improvement tips, you will be able to successfully start earning your living as a web designer and be an expert at it.